Happy Halloween

Just popping in to say hello, Happy Halloween and to let you know that we weathered the storm quite easily.  We had high winds and some snow flurries but kept our power.  My husbands hometown received about 15 inches of snow, but blessedly we were spared that.

Hubby and I are going to a Romney/Ryan rally tomorrow so he went to see his barber to get spiffed up a bit.  Normally one doesn't post a picture taken with one's hubby's barber, but today is different...

 Remember to click on the photo to see a larger version.  And no I'm not wearing contacts, my eyes are cat green

When hubs called to tell me that Rocky was in full regalia, I told him to come and get me and we could take pictures of her.  I grabbed a holiday themed necklace, drew on some 60's styled eyeliner and called it a costume so I could be included in the pictures.  You know it's always about me, me, me.

Did I mention last post that I was making a quilted handbag?  I went through my fabric stash, found some fun fabric, quilted it and using a commercial pattern came up with this...

I do have to admit that the current trend of Vera Bradley quilted bags did influence my most recent sewing project, but I have had the pattern for about five years and the fabric just as long.  The pattern called for pre-quilted fabric or quilting your own, and as I mentioned,  I opted to quilt my own.  I used the contrasting trim fabric for the other side of the fabric, eliminating the need for a lining.  I added an extra pocket on the outside and adjusted the pocket inside to fit my lifestyle.  I carried it today for the first time and it was very comfortable. I used Butterick pattern #B5197 if you are interested.

So that's it for today.  Hopefully I'll be back soon with pictures from the rally.  Remember that Tuesday is election day and it's a privilege to vote.  Make your voice heard and vote intelligently, not emotionally.

See you soon!

Happy Saturday (or Frankenstorm Eve)

Well, we aren't supposed to get much of the rain from the storm, but you never know.  We went out yesterday and got some additional nine hour candles and an emergency crank radio. 

We had just gone to the store Thursday, and have plenty of food on hand.

The front yard is raked in case of an early snow...

 (yes, we have to rake even though we have no trees in the front yard...)

 and green beans are on the stove.

We will be spending the evening catching up on the shows recorded on the DVR and waiting to see if we even get one drop of rain.  I am not being snarky really, I am thankful that we aren't in the direct path of the hurricane.  It's just that the media tends to want everyone to freak out over everything and especially near Election Day they are already running around like Henny Penny telling us the election may have to be postponed.  I, for one, am not a "freaker outer" so boo and hiss lame stream media...you can't scare me.  I'm prepared and will hike to the polls (in case of Zombie attack) if required.

With all that being said, enjoy the rest of the weekend, try to stay safe if you are in the direct path of the storm and remember that now and always, God is in control.  Do your part and things will be as they should.

xoxo

Pictorial tour of my daily life...

Well, kiddos, it's me again.  I had initially planned to wait until I completed my drawings before posting them.   I suppose I am like many of you, in that sometimes I start another project before (gasp) finishing the current one. This is what I have done, so I decided that I would stop dragging my heels and go on a post the photos anyway.

With that in mind, I thought it would be fun to take you through some of the current projects that I have going. Remember this needlepoint project?  Well I did finish it, but this photo is to show you the black and white color chart in the background.  The color chart for this project "spoke to me".  I thought that it would be fun to take this color chart and make a pen and ink drawing from it.  So this is what I started on...not sure if it is done yet.

This turned out better than I had anticipated.  If you are stumped for a design, or aren't one that can do drawings or doodles from your imagination, this just might be a good source of inspiration.

It's not quite a zentangle, but it allowed me to use various designs and repetitive shapes in a fashion that I find quite interesting.

As much as I love to draw or do needle work in the living room while I watch television, there is a downside.  I, being the spoiled child that I am, don't like to put my toys away.  It doesn't take very long for a previously neat living room to start to appear less than straight...

If you come to visit me, don't expect to have a large glass of sweet tea, as I've used most of my large cups for holding my colored pencils.  I start off neatly, but as I work through a drawing, not only has my 1950's end table become completely overwhelmed with my accoutrements and paraphernalia, it usually spills down to the floor below...

In this photo, I attempted to used some creative cropping in an effort to make the extent of my mess less alarming.  I usually have books and magazines and catalogs for each of the project that I am currently working on and once I have gotten something out from storage downstairs, I just don't want to put it away. I'm just like that.

The main thing that got this drawing frenzy started was a tutorial that showed an easy way to draw op art.  Using the ideas presented in this tutorial, I came up with this...

It's not really an optical illusion, as the coils are supposed to look like they are moving in some fashion, but it was fun to work on...for a while.  After working on it several nights in a row, I was bored with it and went on to something else.

That something else is often called impossible art.  It's a form of optical trickery that makes your brain kick into overdrive.  I'm all about the brain and visuals, so this was right up my alley.  You may think it is a bit confusing to look at, you should try to draw it.  Even with a sample to go by, it is almost impossible to get your brain to "switch over" while drawing these illusion.

The tuning fork was almost impossible to draw.  Not impossible in a "drive you crazy" way, but impossible in a "I know I can do this" way.  There are lots of illusion art out there.  I'm sure you have seen the sidewalk art that is illusionary, but have you seen the art done on a rooftop that looks like giant spiders...

I know, it's freaky.  You can read about it here and see how it looks from the rooftop instead of above.  It's very interesting.  Please check it out.

Now I know that my skills in illusionary art don't compare, but it's fun to dabble in.  There is something called impossible architecture that is a bit easier to draw.  I came us with this one...

If you click in, you may be able to see various levels of stairs that when turned in different directions, change the look of the drawing.  On the right page is a spiral that I have started and I'm not sure where it will be going, but go it will.

When I wasn't making myself crazy with op art, I was cutting out slacks...and making rice bags.

I tried five times to get blogger to accept this picture in the direction that it was taken, but to no avail.  Please humor me and tilt your head to the left to see what a rice bag made from monkey flannel looks like.  Hubby loves monkey art and he picked this fabric.

The pants and the rice bags were made downstairs in my basement on my Bernina and seams are pressed open in the laundry room.

As I sew, I usually watch television.  I can never get the remote to work with the television, unless I stand up, and I'm way too lazy for that.  With that in mind, please see my redneck solution...

Yes, in order for the remote to activate the sensor I had to elevate the television and what better to use than books.  So I have my studio television securely lifted on a stack of books.  Necessity is most certainly the mother of invention.

Well, I suppose that is it for now.  A blog post that should have taken about an hour took four hours.  Recently blogger changed things and if I turn my camera when taking the picture (an old habit from my 35mm SLR days) it requires tons of photo program work to get the photo to load correctly. 

Hope everyone has a great week and stays (or gets) creative.  We'll talk soon. Take care.

Just saying hi...

Since I still don't have anything to brag/post about yet, I'll just show you this picture of me and my hubby.  Timbo and I had a little function to attend Friday night and we got a passerby to snap our picture.
Hope you like it.

Yep, it's me in all my long haired, no glasses glory.  Looks like I could have used a bit more paint on the old barn, but it's all good.

My three month, cataract surgery follow-up appointment is tomorrow,  but other than that ,the upcoming week is appointment free.  Seems like a good week to amp up the gym workout and start sweating out some of the junk food toxins that I seemed to accumulate this weekend.  I find myself falling into the "I'm so good all week" routine that I treat myself with junk food on the weekend and undo everything I did during the week.  I'll bet I'm not the only one that does this.

As they say, tomorrow is another day.  We'll talk soon and I promise I will find something artsy and interesting to blog about, really I will.

Where is she???

Oh, not to worry, I'm hanging around.  I've been a bit on the lazy side, drawing and eating cake.  When I finish coloring in my current doodle, I'm post it.  In the meantime, check out this tutorial for an op art drawing.  This is what I have been working on and it is quite time consuming but fun.

In the meantime, here is a funny little cartoon.  Hope you get it.

Later.